King Abdullah II To David Gregory: America Tortured

[ProSense]

King Abdullah II To David Gregory: America Tortured

24 Apr 2009 05:21 pm

Earlier today, David Gregory interviewed Jordan's King Abdullah II for this Sunday's Meet the Press and asked him if he thought the United States engaged in torture. The King's answer: "Well, from what we've seen and what we've heard, there are enough accounts to show that this is the case. But there is still a major battle out there. And I think that America, and I think what President Obama is trying to do, is make sure that the legal system that America is known for is transparent."

David then interjected: "That's an important point. You actually do believe that the United States engaged in torture." To which King Adullah responded, "From what I see... on the press they show that there were illegal ways of dealing with detainees."

King Abdullah II has emerged as the linchpin leader of the Arab world -- it's no coincidence that he was the first Middle East leader to visit President Obama (noticeably ahead of Bibi Netanyahu), so I'm looking forward to the whole interview, to be broadcast this Sunday morning. Here's a preview:

video

[stevedeshazer]

1. Those comments are bound to start a shitstorm in Washington

:popcorn:

[ProSense]

3. Hope they do. n/t

[Cha]

4. In the dungeons of

Washington, anyway.

[tbyg52]

8. Good. I hope they start one everywhere.

I hope this thing has legs. I'm about to emit a LTTE to our local rags to keep the pot stirred in my little corner.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. Looks like the torture scandal has legs

[elleng]

5. Why WOULDN'T the King visit before bibi?

He's been in that position, steadily, for a while, right?

[Vidar]

6. A worthy son to both of his parents.

[PopSixSquish]

7. King Hussein of Jordan Left the Hospital to Make an Appearance at the Wye River Peace Talks

in order to help save the process. He is indeed a good man and a good friend to have in the Middle East.

[Sultana]

11. He is nothing like his father

[eleny]

9. Below the video: "Comments on this entry have been closed."

I wish we could see those comments - if there were any comments when this video was first posted on the web.

K&R

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. Is he upset that we didn't send suspects to Jordan for torture?

:shrug:

For all the Western suave of the current monarchs, I wouldn't call Jordan a center for human rights, you know?

[ProSense]

12. Why is that even a consideration?

Bush officials tortured and he's pointing that out. Are we going to enter into a nationalism debate over torture?

Has King Abdullah been accused of torture? I suspect he's proud that his country had no role in this.

On edit: I hope international pressure builds for prosecuting Bush war criminals.